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Drake Bigler Memorial Invite Summary

06/26/2013, 7:00am CDT

By Ryan and Ross Reitsma

1st Annual Event a Success

The first annual Drake Bigler Memorial Invite was a success. We appreciate all the volunteers, coaches, directors, officials, and other assistants who made this event go smoothly and create a great experience for those involved. Thanks to D1 Minnesota basketball program for their donation to the cause despite not being able to attend the event.

We specifically appreciate the coaches who showed a high level of class in the way they coach, instruct, and teach players with an encouraging and building perspective while also teaching life lessons.

Here are comments from one of coaches attending:
"Although I was aware of the Drake Bigler story and the fact that Brad had recently lost his mother I took a moment on the way home from the tournament to read the story to our players. We were glad to be a part of such a great event today and am thankful that you have taken the time to ensure that we will remember Drake for years to come. We will all pray for the Bigler family tonight. Thanks for great day!"

We greatly respect and admire coaches who use opportunities to share stories and learn through tragedy. The detailed results of the games and entire event are provided below.

Many people know the stories of tragedy for Brad and Heather Bigler over the last couple of years, but many people do not. This story written by CBS Sportsline describes the various perspectives pretty well along with a video. Thanks for listening and caring.
This coming July 28 will mark one year since the loss of Drake.

2013 Drake Bigler AAU Results Summary

Congrats to the following AAU Teams for winning the Drake Bigler Invite - AAU Day 1: